Preheat oven to 300° convection and place shelf in the middle of oven. Butter a pyrex loaf pan.

Combine dry and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add almond extract.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping bowl each time.

Add sour cream and mix well.

Add dry and mix until fully incorporated.

Fold in 1 1/4 cups of the cherries, reserving the prettiest ones for later. Batter will be thick, so this isn't easy and some may get smushed up. Don't worry. Fill loaf pan and bang on counter several times to settle. Smooth top with spatula.

Lay pretty cherry halves, cut side down, on top of batter in rows. If you don't have enough, cut a few more cherries in half to totally cover top of loaf.